Remembering Microsoft’s Jim Gray

Early this year, Microsoft researcher Jim Gray went missing while out on his …

On January 28, 2007, Microsoft researcher and world-renowned computer scientist Jim Gray disappeared while sailing off the coast of San Francisco. Gray's mother, Ann, had died the previous October, and he set out to spread her ashes on the Farallon Islands. While the weather that day was rather calm, Gray and his boat went astray sometime after midday. In the end, he was never found, but his disappearance reflected the tremendous impact he had on modern technology.

Last week, Wiredpublished an article written by Steve Silberman detailing not just Jim Gray's amazing life, but also the way that the technology community came together to search for the researcher. Some of the most influential people in computing were involved in the search, ranging from Microsoft's Bill Gates to Oracle's Larry Ellison to engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. "Jim's work inspired us and many other computer scientists to seek out and tackle very ambitious projects," said Google's Sergey Brin. Referring to his work with Google during the search, Microsoft's Tom Barclay set aside any existing rivalry between the two companies. "We were competitors yesterday and we'll be competitors tomorrow, but today we're partners."

Silberman's article is a detailed timeline of the search for Jim Gray, and it is well worth the read even if you aren't familiar with Gray's work. It shows not only the rescue workers' tireless effort that went into the search, but also the way thousands of people used Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk to look for Gray's boat.

Though Jim Gray is still missing today, his disappearance showcased the very industry that he helped create. Even though has not been—and may never be—found, his contributions to technology will always be remembered.